New York Philharmonic

Barton possesses a powerful mezzo-soprano that she can fashion to fit various demands, summoning up a hard amber sound when she needed to project authority, and finding a much softer, more lyrical note in her lamentations.

Houston Grand Opera

Mezzo Jamie Barton is already an international phenom with that dazzlingly creamy voice and commanding stage presence. As Waltraute, she shines most bright in an achingly beautiful mini-scene that displays her glorious voice to full effect.

Metropolitan Opera

It’s hard to find adjectives superlative enough to describe her voice: huge and sumptuous, but with such broad possibilities of color that the singer can chill the blood with just a glint of steel in the tone. Lurching, heaving and writhing nonstop, she looked as if she might any moment explode out of sheer malevolence.